Re: Knock,
Knocking shop

:
: : The question came up in conversation late one night, enough said....

: :
: Where does the phrase 'she got knocked up' come from?

: : Excellent question.
I could have sworn blind that this was London slang, because it's in such widespread
usage over here, but a little research assures me that it's US-based. I have no
clue how or why it originated, though.

: : As a side note, it's an interesting
little phrase, and typical of the subtle complexities of English. Those two little
words have at least four quite different meanings, as follows:-

: : a) To arouse
or awaken. "Knock me up at 6:30."
: : b) To create or cook hastily. "I knocked
up bacon and eggs."
: : c) To score at sport. "The captain knocked up a quick
30."
: : d) To impregnate. "She got knocked up last year."

: : There are
probably others. Never let it be said that English is an easy language to learn.

:
: A little site called LondonSlang.com asserts that the term orignates in
London. It doesn't give any other explanation but it is listed along with the
term "knocking shop" for brothel. I'm not sure whether knocking shop is used here
in the US, but it seems like it might be a clue to the phrases origin. Strangely
the term 'knock' does not seem to be used as a euphamism for sex otherwise.

:
It's not inconceivable that it was orignally a British English term that migrated,
then reappeared later as a uniquely American, just in the same way the spelling
of the word 'fetus'is thought to be American when it was originally spelled that
way in Britain too.

It may be used "for sex otherwise."

knock off (or up)
To have sexual intercouse with. Originally working-class slang, this is now a
wide-spread phrase -- but still considered 'crude' in polite circles. It is certainly
not a very loving term, and is often used with more than as hint of disapproval
-- e.g. 'He's been knocking off his old friend's wife for years now'. As with
knobbing, it is usually the male who is doing the knocking.
Other related
phrases, still very common, are knocking shop -- brothel, and knocked up -- pregnant.
Knock also has the old meaning of penis, dating back to 18th century.
From
_The Slanguage of Sex_ (Futura Publications, 1985) by Brigid McConville & John
Shearlaw